Time flies when you're having fun

I haven't been very good at keeping up with blogging the past few weeks but time is flying!  We went on our first summer vacation (blog post about that to follow) and Josiah turned 2!!  I will be blogging about that later also...still waiting on pics from a few people:-)  In the meantime, here are a few pics and a video that show what Josiah's been up to...

Bedtime snack with Daddy

Drum or stool?  Dual purpose in Josiah's world!

Josiah helped set the table, Froggie was overseeing
but clearly dozed off on the job...tsk tsk.

Peeling a "norange"

All decked out for the holiday weekend!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

St. Patrick's Day has become one of the biggest parties of the year for my side of the family and this year was no exception!  My dad (dubbed Michael John Patrick O'Becker for the day) holds nothing back preparing the feast fit for an Irish king!  This year he even corned his own beef..deee-licious and picture worthy (see below).  Other items on the menu this year included colcannon, mulligan stew, green beer, guacamole, and mint chip ice cream among many other yummy green/Irish items. Everyone gets in on the preparation:

Henry helps Nana make the green jell-o salad...no, not traditionally Irish but green and yummy anyway!

A small taste for good measure...

DEE-Licious!!!

Yumm-o!!!

 

Along with the yummy food there is always plenty of green clothes and of course, pieces of flare....even the littlest ones get into the fun:

And of course no celebration is complete without matching PJs and an endless stream of group shots...some more successful than others:-)

6 kids under age 3 group shot...mildly successful:-)

Peas, peas and more peas

Josiah is a picky eater and keeps us on our toes trying to find foods he will consistently eat.  The ironic thing with him is that the only thing I have found that he will eat no matter what, are peas.  Yes, you read that correctly, peas.  My mom is an avid pea-hater and is dismayed at the prospect of having a grandson who LOVES her least favorite food but here is video evidence.  Sorry Mom:-)

Greseth Muffins!

Ever since I can remember, it has been a special breakfast treat to have Greseth muffins.  I can vividly remember making them with my Grandma Greseth, Aunt Terry and my mom when I was little, it's a very special memory for me!  They used to let me stir the batter, put the muffin cups in the tin and help get the batter in the cups...after we taste tested the batter of course, yum!  While the batter is tasty, the final product is even better.  In order to make them "official" Greseth muffins you have to top them with dark Karo syrup.  A few people prefer them with regular maple syrup (not as good in my opinion) and some people even prefer them *gasp* with NO syrup (travesty if you ask me!) Josiah and I spent the day at home on Sunday just relaxing and hanging out so I decided it was the perfect time to bake his first batch of Greseth muffins and see how he liked them.  He helped me with all the things I used to enjoy like stirring, muffin cup placement and batter tasting and when he tasted the final product (Karo syrup and all) he LOVED them!!  Check it out:

Note the concentration!

"Mmm, batter!!"

"Want see it!" He had to personally oversee the baking process, cant' trust the timer you know!

Ready to eat!

Yummy!!!

Fashionista in the making

When Seth said "It's a boy!" in the delivery room 15 months ago, part of me was sad that I wouldn't get to shop for all the frilly pink dresses and fabulous matching accessories but a bigger part of me was relieved that I wouldn't have to shop for those things:-)  I have never been into high fashion (sorry Jan) and prefer jeans to any other attire!  Just ask Robin about the rolled up sweatpants and puffy headbands that I sported for WAY too long.  And let's not even get started on the HUGE Sally Jesse Rafael style red glasses that I wore around proudly for a few years!  So who would have guessed that I would be posting about how my toddler son has developed a love for hats, shoes and fancy hair styles??  However, his idea of fashion is a smidge outside the "norm" just like his Mommy.  Here are a few pictures and a video that describe it better than I could with words.  Enjoy:-)

Apparently he feels that the shoes need not match...and anything goes with shark PJ pants

Whenever Josiah is eating and I hear "Hat", I already know what I'm going to see when I look over.  Case in point.

And this is what the newest hair style looks like.  Who needs product when you have syrup at your disposal??

State Fair 2010

I realize that it's been a month since we attended the Great MN State Get Together but better late than never, right?!  We braved going on what turned out to be a record setting day for attendance (234,384 people) and we did it with 2 strollers and 3 kids under the age of 2-1/2!  Crazy you say??  Maybe, but it was worth it!  The weather was picture perfect and the kids were angels!  We all piled into Robin and Kyle's new minivan and headed up at morning nap time to take advantage of some quiet time.  All 3 boys napped on the way up and were ready to go when we arrived.  If you're keeping count that's 4 adults, 3 carseats, 2 strollers....and a partridge in a pear tree:-)  In years past we have arrived at the Fair with no plan and wandered around which has lead to some tense moments when we realize that the place we are headed for is 7 blocks away....in the direction we just came from.  Not so this year!  I put my natural nerdiness to work and printed a Fair map and highlighted all the locations we wanted to hit up ahead of time so we went in with a planned route!  MUCH better and added bonus, we got to sample every food-on-a-stick our little heart's desired....and at a much cheaper cost since our planned route included stops at food vendors who offered coupons!  Nerdiness and thriftiness in perfect harmony:-)  One of the highlights of the Fair for the little boys was the John Deere display where we let them loose to run around the tractors and they decided to try their hand at landscaping which I'm sure the Fair people were really grateful for:

"Work fast Josiah, we MUST move all this mulch before they notice!"

"Got it Miles, I'm right behind you!"

Another highlight was the "Little Farm Hands" exhibit where they got to don aprons and go through a series of  stands that shows where the food we eat comes from.  They were a little young to understand the concept but had fun anyway:

We're all set with official aprons and buckets!

Josiah and Mommy in the "Little Farm Hands" line

"What do you mean put the seeds in the dirt, I'm just going to eat them instead!"

Tractor racing!

While the big boys were running around, little Henry observed from the stroller and planned out the food he'd like to sample next year when his teeth have all arrived:

The little Bug:-)

All in all we had a great day and are looking forward to our trip up next year!!

Erin Go Bragh!!

A belated Happy St. Patrick's Day to all our Irish friends out there....and those who are "Irish" one day out of the year to get in on the good food and green beer:-) As is tradition, we joined everyone at my parent's house for a DEE-licious meal prepared by my dad, Michael John O'Becker. Corned beef, cabbage, shepherd's pie, colcannon, green jello salad (not Irish but a requirement for the Norwegians in the group) and green hard rolls followed by cake with green frosting, pistachio pudding and sugar cookies with shamrock's on them. Yum-O pretty much sums it up. Josiah was in awe of all the green get ups and accessories, his favorite was auntie Nykki's headband...he thought the waving shamrocks were the coolest! In other news of the day, Robin and I started a water aerobics class through Community Ed and our first class followed the Irish feast...let's just say that we both went easy on the cabbage for the sake of our fellow classmates:-) There are no pictures of the class (summer/swimsuit-ready I am NOT) but here are a few from the party at mom and dad's:

Josiah didn't get to partake in the cabbage or corned beef, he stuck to his usual of baby food...next year though, look out!

"Hey Great Grandpa, do you know you have a giant hat on your head?"

Papa and his boys:-)

Despite the look on Nykki's face in this shot, she was actually having a good time and giggling for most of the party...we swear! I love this one, check out Josiah's face:-)

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!!

Top Chef in the making

Josiah's new favorite place to hang out is in the kitchen. He's my "helper" in the kitchen. He is perfectly content to sit and play with a few plastic bowls, a chip clip and a wooden spoon. I run all recipe's by him before I prepare them and he gives his feedback. On this particular night I was planning liver and onions: As you can see, my second choice of chicken and potatoes was a much better idea in Josiah's opinion:

Yummy!

Now that he has mastered the world of cereal and baby food, we decided Josiah was ready for the big step into the world of solid foods:-) We are starting small with Teething Biscuits. Verdict from Josiah = DEElicious! Messy, yes. Worth it, totally! Evidence: